Color outside the lines in this black & white world

Tag Archives: selfless

Do you ever find it difficult to carve out time for just yourself in the busyness of life? Do you struggle with constantly giving to those around you and not taking time to care for yourself? I wrestled with this yesterday but found solutions to these problems in unsuspecting places. Keep reading and I will tell you the secret I found.

As a stay-at-home working mom of three kids, it can be very challenging to do anything for myself. So I am putting forth an effort to start a “Selfish Sarah” movement in our home. I know the word selfish usually has a negative connotation to it but I will attempt to prove it to be a positive word in my life and for those around me.

For so long I have allowed myself to be “Selfless Sarah.” My time would be filled taking care of my kids and husband, keeping up the house and running errands. Let’s just say I have VERY little time to take care of myself. I know all you moms out there can relate. ‘Sarah’ was being lost in the mix of “mom” and “wife” and I didn’t like losing my own identity. Please don’t misunderstand, I LOVE being a mom and wife. I just really love who I am as well. I have personal interests outside of doing laundry, fixing meals, dressing four people, making beds, wiping butts, playing with play dough, trimming 40 fingernails and 40 toenails (it’s not fair because John only needs to trim 5 toe nails!), and cleaning 8 ears.

2015 is going to be the year where I try to find “Sarah” again in the mist of the daily chaos. I am hoping that by being more selfish I can be an even better wife and mom to my family and I hope that they notice a positive difference. During this transition I plan on doing more artwork, working out, finding quiet time, dressing up, pampering myself and most importantly listening to my body’s needs.

With that being said, my hair was WAY overdo for a cut. Surprisingly no birds came and nested in my bun since it looks like a nest made up of nice crispy dry straw. All the Mabry men got hair cuts last week, including the dogs, so it was my turn. I decided to call my hair salon early in the morning while I was feeding Sawyer a bottle (Hey, I can still be selfless while being selfish) and made myself an appointment for later that afternoon. That is when I noticed a nice new piece of custom artwork on our walls done by the one and only Austin. He had decided he would draw on the wall by his bed. The insanity never lets up here! Like I was saying, I needed to get out of the house to take care of me.

I truly enjoyed myself at the salon. My stylist washed and massaged my head while someone else was fixing me a fresh cup of coffee. Ahhhhhh! Finally, I got away. After sipping on a nice warm cup of coffee and having my hair cut and styled all in one sitting, not having to reheat the same cup of coffee 15 times a day like I usually have to do at home, I started to realize how much I value ‘Selfish Sarah’ time.

I lazily strolled to my car to head home. Just as I sat down to put the key in the ignition I received an alarming text from John with this picture attached:

Seriously?!? I leave the house for 1 hour and this happens…REALLY?!?!!! While I was getting pampered Sawyer managed to fall face first onto our pebbled patio. I was flooded with guilt immediately. Situations like this is when I struggle being selfish. I knew there was nothing I could do at that point so I forced myself to take advantage of the time away from home and ran some errands just to buy more time away from the madness that was unfolding at home.

I picked up some nail polish from Walgreens so I could give myself a mani/ pedi and then headed over to Marshalls and T.J. Maxx to hunt for a laundry basket. Let’s just say I found a lot more than just one basket! Home decor is important to me and since I work out of my home as a mom and wellness advocate I might as well make it how I like it, right?

I came home and transformed into mom and wife again. We got the kids fed at exactly 5:55 (an angel number). I believe when I see sequential numbers on things like clocks that they are a sign that angels are with me. We’ve been seeing them a lot lately in our house, too. God’s angels seem to be closer than they usually are, which might explain why some big things have effortlessly fallen into place for us. Anyway, we finally got the brats kids bathed and tucked in bed. At the very end of a long day I felt deflated. I was finishing up some late night laundry before heading to bed. That’s when I found a shiny penny right at the opening of the dryer (another sign of an angel’s presence ). Just seeing that penny lifted my spirits enough to get me into bed knowing that everything is okay.

I could just complain about my day but I choose to pick out the good things. I don’t want to over look all the hard work the Mabry Men did tonight. They caulked our bathrooms and I believe John thought it was going to be a lot easier than it turned out to be! Seeing the boys bonding with their dad made my heart smile.

As hard as it is to juggle being a mom, wife, and wellness advocate I honestly don’t think I would want it any other way! The secret I find is in paying attention to the daily signs I receive (the 5:55 on the clock and the shinny penny) and trust that I am where I need to be at this moment in life. Most people overlook these brushes with God’s appointed angels because they are too busy looking at the smartphone. Life is sweet…sometimes overwhelming…but I am going to continue to make an effort to pamper ‘Selfish Sarah’ every once in a while so I can be more ‘Selfless Sarah’ for the important people in my life.